Sometimes...

Have you ever had one of those days where things get so out of control, you just have to laugh?! The alternative would be tears, but I have found crying generally takes up more energy than laughing, so when I have the reserves to choose, I choose to laugh :)

Last night was one of those times. Leo has been gone for most of the week and I was expecting him home yesterday. When I found out he wasn't coming, I was bummed, but decided we'd just cope the best we could. I was helping put on a little celebration for a newly married couple at the church (no biggie, just a dessert pot-luck) but I needed to go early to help set up. Since Leo was gone and it was about 12 below zero, I decided to take the kids with me. We had the talk before we went, about being helpful and not running around like wild animals through the church, which seems to be a favorite past time of the children. They all agreed they'd be good... well, of course, as soon as we got there, they were off, zipping around and under tables, up the stairs, through the kitchen, in and out of the bathrooms. I finally had them all sit at one table and we got through the evening, which ended up being lots of fun with the slideshow and video.

When we got home we realized the front door had not shut properly when we left. This often happens when it is cold outside. So, it was open about 8 inches for 3 hours. Thankfully, it was only down to 60 in the living room. Right away, Ned started working on building a fire in the woodstove. I am embarrassed to say I have yet to successfully build a fire in that stove, but he managed to do it after diligently nursing the stove for about 40 minutes. He was my hero for the night!

In the middle of all of that (smoke detector going off, kids all grabbing the axe to help chop kindling, cardboard box blazing huge flames from the stove...) I went to wash my hands and realized the water had frozen. We hadn't had the heat tape on since it had been so warm for awhile. It was about this time, that I decided to laugh! I'm not sure it was a joyful laugh- it was probably more sarcastic in it's nature, but it was a laugh and a sort of smile nonetheless!!!Thankfully, Leo had a cell phone and actually answered it and told me what I needed to do. About 40 minutes later the water came back on.

By this time, I had all 10 kids (we had two extras for a sleep-over) snuggled in blankets in the living room watching Wall-E, the smoke had started to clear, laundry was going and the house was warming up. I was able to go to bed before 11:30 and slept quite well!

This morning held it's own set of events that put me in the position to choose once again between laughter and tears. This time it was Malachi's "puddles" all over the house while I was out at the woodpile in 27 below zero... anyway, sometimes you just have to laugh :)

Leo is supposed to be home this evening and we're all looking forward to a good Sunday together tomorrow. Hope yours is good too!

2009 Thus Far

I've been a bit remiss in blogging lately. Just busy, I think! Here's our year so far... we rang in the New Year by all being at home sick. It was actually one of the most relaxing New Year's I've had in a long time! We had an early dinner, bathed the kids, watched a movie together and watched fireworks from our porch. It was 30 something below at the time, so the kids put boots and coats on for the few minutes we were out. We were all in bed and asleep before 10:00 :) During our cold snap, Malachi enjoyed getting into the winter gear and dressing himself up. It was 30 to 40 below zero for over two weeks. Then, it warmed up... by 78 degrees! Within two days it went from very cold to warm and windy. 58 above and raining.

Here's a random shot of one of our visitors. This fox likes to come in the yard and hang out. Who knows what it finds it to eat around here. If the yard is anything like my floor, there's probably plenty for him and his friends to eat :)

Ok, here's what our yard looked like after a couple days of tropical heat. We literally had a pond in the yard and the kids were out "boating" in it. They'd take sleds and paddles and paddle around the pond then come in soaking wet, freezing cold and happy. Hmmm, I wonder if that is why everyone is sick now!? As I type this, 6 of the children are quite sick with fever, coughs and runny noses.

Last Friday, before everyone got sick, I had Sonnet's 3 babies here for the day while she subbed at school. We actually had a really fun day together. Here's Teagann, Silas, Tyler and Malachi. They enjoyed each other and kept me busy!

After preschool, Sam, Isaac and Zoe joined the gang. So, we had 7 kids under 4 and then 9, 6 years old and under once my Kindergartners got home :) It was blessedly quiet during nap time, at least for about 10 minutes!

Zoe and Isaac- they're just a few weeks apart and have always been special friends.

Malachi, being cute!

Last weekend we had the Goertzens over for dinner. It was so cute to see how much Jeremiah enjoyed being with all the kids and they enjoyed him too! Here's a picture of one tubfull of kids :) Cutie patootie! We had a really fun evening and will have to do it again soon!

I hope your New Year is going well and that you are all well and healthy! Just a note on our "plans"... we're still waiting for the perfect Travel Trailer to come our way. However, we're getting serious about planning our road trip while we wait. So far, we've got one definite date set and that is to be in Tonasket, Washington at the Free Methodist Church on June 7th! We know our schedule will continue to fill up and all the details will be worked out. This support-raising thing is an interesting and educational process, but it's good! God is so good and Faithful and it's neat to see how He is working everything out. Have a great day! Lots of love to you :)